Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Wopping Wednesday: Five Fingers

Let me just point out that I absolutely love this drama. *sighs* That (sort of) needed to be said.



But this post isn't about Five Fingers itself; this post is about its music.

One of the best things about Five Fingers was its soundtrack - especially the orchestral songs. The drama was supposed to be about pianists-turned-composers, after all (in addition to the revenge, of course); if the music hadn't been as ear-catching from the start, it's debatable whether or not I would have loved the drama as much. *gazes glances at Ji Chang Wook* Nope, I probably would have.

The music just helped. A lot of the music is more orchestral than in other dramas I've seen, and that's perfectly fine. Before I start rambling about how the pieces tie into what I learn in music classes in school, let's just start listening! :)


 "Salieri" is one of the more high-energy, dramatic pieces in Five Fingers. (Of course it is, it's the song that plays at the end of the episodes, when those gosh-freaking cliffhangers happen.)

Now, I would have just left "Ji Ho's Theme" out because it wasn't available on the video-finding app in Blogger, but the song is just too good to leave out. The piano melody and the orchestral integration are enough to make it one of my favorite pieces from the drama...Basically, it's a really pretty song.


As is "Sympathy." Out of the instrumental songs, this is the most...hum-able, in my opinion. The melody is easy to follow, and it is one of the songs that was stuck in my head often when I wasn't watching the drama.

In case you haven't noticed, there is a lot of usage of string instruments for the tracks...and the tracks are less pop-y than those on the soundtracks for some other drama's I've seen. Watching Five Fingers and listening to these pieces helped me appreciate instrumental music and music composition. 

But now we enter the pop-y section. Im Young Hee's (or Lim, depending on your preference) "날 사랑하지마 (Don't Love Me)" took me a couple listens to become accustomed to it, likely due to the instrumentals. The song is nice and sad and pretty, and I've grown to enjoy it. (By this point, you've probably realized that I enjoy nice, sad, and pretty songs.)


My musical bias for sad, minor songs, as well as the insane, fangirling bias I developed for Ji Chang Wook the moment I laid eyes on him in Five Fingers, is part of what led me to enjoy "채운다 (Fills My Heart)" so much. Before he was a television actor, Ji Chang Wook was a struggling stage actor, so he has musical experience. Why this and his track for Warrior Baek Dong Soo are the only soundtrack contributions he's made, I don't understand.


This is, of course, only a taste of the musical magic of Five Fingers. Not all of the songs are necessarily ones that stay with you, or ones that you'll even remember at all (this is especially true with the vocal songs). Still, if you watch Five Fingers for any reason at all, let that reason be the music.

...watch it for Joo Ji Hoon and Ji Chang Wook.
That's also an acceptable motivation.
Or, you know...












-Pamela

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